at least one doctor here in the us to provide her with the care that, until now, she had not been able to obtain. >>once it was right there in their face, they were definitely more willing to try help me get what i needed to get done here. >>we have a system unlike any place in the developed world. no other country allows for profit health insurance companies to control a healthcare system like we do here. they do an extraordinarily good job of making money and satisfying their investors, but they are doing a tragic job, quite frankly, of insuring americans. so we're headed for a collapse of our sickness industry. >>do you see a day when the american healthcare system can no longer sort of take care of it's own, that people decide to come here in larger numbers? >>in some ways it's akin too the us sort of outsourcing

healthcare. (vo)every 90 seconds, an american family will declare bankruptcy due to medical debt. lisa long is determined not to be one of them. >>hey mom, i'm cleaning this place and i got one more to clean and i'll have enough money to come home, i'll have the rent. >>oh no problem then babe, i love you. >>i love you too. ok bye.

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: good morning everybody, friends and neighbors. good to see you today. it is tuesday march 26th. welcome to the "full court press" here on current tv where we bring you the news of the day happening here in our nation's capital, around the country around the globe and take your calls and your comments.

your calls welcome at 1-866-55-press. your comments welcome on twitter at bpshow and on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. join the conversation here about the news of the day and there is a lot of it. big day today at the supreme court. the first of two days hearing arguments on same-sex marriage. today, the justices will hear arguments for and against the defense of marriage act which bill clinton signed in 1996 and now he says it was a big mistake to sign it. we can only hope the justices will agree. in other news, in afghanistan john kerry and hamid karzai get together reduce the tension in fact, have a good time together and bury the hatchet. up in connecticut the nra is fighting new gun safety legislation, actually making robo calls to residents of newtown, connecticut asking

them to ask their legislature not to pass the new gun safety rules. and the miami heat has won number 27 in a row and tiger woods is back as the nation's number one golfer. how about it. all of that and more coming up right here on current tv. billy zane stars in barabbas. coming in march to reelz. to find reelz in your area, go to reelz.com

you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not

bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: breaking news, the italian supreme court has reversed the decision on amanda knox. they have reversed her acquittal and say they want to try her again on murder. an american citizen. wow.

don't know where that whole thing is going. we'll be talking more about that in the next few days. what do you say? great to see you today. here we are on the "full court press." here on current tv. here on your local progressive talk radio station, here on sirius x.m. this hour only. welcome to the program this morning. this is where we take you just like lightning fire through the big news of the day whether it is happening here in our nation's capital where we're located right here on capitol hill in washington, d.c., we'll tell you what's happening here. not a hell of a lot except for the supreme court the congress is both -- both houses out on easter break passover break whatever. they don't need an excuse to take two weeks off. we'll tell you what's happening here and around the country and around the globe. john kerry meeting -- secretary of state meeting hamid karzai.

they have been friends for a long time. looks like they have eased the tension between the two countries there. lots to talk about. we'll bring you up to date and give you a chance to sound off and let us know what do you think of all of the issues of the day. 1-866-55-press is our toll free number. that's where you can give us a call. we love to hear from you on twitter at bpshow. we love to have your friendship on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. and the bill press team here this morning. peter ogborn and dan henning. >> hey hey hey. >> good morning. >> happy tuesday. >> bill: i almost said phil. phil is out. he got a big assignment here. stevie lee webb has jumped in taking care of the phones and cyprian bowlding as always on the video cam. for current tv. those of you watching or

listening. you can always join the chat room too. keep up with your fellow "full court pressers" by going to current.com and clicking on the chat room and you're in. so what's going on? the snow, you never even know it snowed yesterday. >> what snow? it was a nightmare coming in yesterday to work because the roads hadn't been cleared off. by the time i left here to go home, there was no more snow. there was no more snow. i saw that that was the biggest snowfall that d.c. had all season and it lasted maybe four hours. >> bill: i was walking to the metro to go down to the white house yesterday and there was a family of tourists, mother, father and three boys, they were walking down 8th street here and i heard -- so i was just -- they were just strolling and i'm in a hurry to get to the metro. i was walking around them and i heard one little boy say why is

it snowing? i thought it was spring. mommy, why is it snowing? they're here for spring break obviously. i just told them, hey this is our winter. we didn't have any winter. we waited until spring to have winter. one day and maybe a half-inch of snow. they finally were able to start playing golf again down at bay hill and tiger woods wrapped it up. he is back. he is back now as a number one golfer in the nation and you know, how did i do it? just hard work. >> by-product of hard work, patience and getting back to winning golf tournaments. i've won some golf tournaments the last couple of years and consequently, i've moved up. i play well here. >> bill: that's how you win by playing well. >> apparently. i mean, he's --

>> bill: tiger's back. bill clinton's back. big article in "the washington post" this morning. david bidder's back. >> is he really? >> bill: yes. and sanford is back. so we're a foyeing country. -- forgiving country. >> how about o.j. simpson? is he on his way back? >> bill: hanky-panky is one thing. double murder, that's a different category. great line-up for you today. igor volky our -- volsky, our good friend from think progress will be here. i don't thinkman john yarmuth from kentucky will be stopping by as well. we'll be talking about the big hearing in the supreme court on the defense of american act. michele bachmann crazier than ever and now in some legal hot

water. but first -- >> this is the "full court press." >> other headlines making news on this tuesday. 27 winning games in a row. that's where the miami heat now stand after beating the orlando magic last night 108-94. that was without dwyane wade for its second straight night. he's out with a sore knee. lebron james posted 24 points and 11 assists in the effort. heat are now within six games of breaking the nba all-time consecutive wins record, 33. >> bill: this is almost getting boring, you know. >> well, look, they're on a tear but they haven't had a really brutal schedule these last couple of games. playing a couple of lighter teams. >> bill: orlando the magic is not -- >> no. they beat the bobcats the other night. >> the wizards can beat the bobcats. >> hey hey.

>> actually, the wizards tore it up last night. >> john scored 47 points last night. >> britain's prince harry is visiting the u.s. in may. but he will avoid las vegas this time. he's got a busy schedule. >> bill: playbill yards strip poker anywhere. doesn't have to be in vegas. >> busy schedule, both charity events lobbying and touring hurricane sandy. he will be in d.c., denver, colorado springs new york, new jersey, and connecticut. last time he was here, those embarrassing photos of him made it out of sin city from that hotel room. >> bill: you know what he said about that? too much army, not enough prince. >> you know, look, he's coming to washington, d.c. i assume he'll hit the white house. we're not far from the white house. we like strip poker. >> bill: bring him by. >> maybe he will stay at the mayflower. >> home beer brewing has taken

the country by storm. you can't do it anywhere. there is one state where home brewing beer is illegal and that distinction goes to alabama. not just a small crime. "the huffington post" reports it is a felony to brew beer at home. mississippi voted last week to legalize home brewing. no word if it may ever happen in alabama. >> bill: you know, boy the beer industry, i bet they put a lot of money into that. to block home brewing. you make beer at home? >> i don't. i've never attempted that. a friend of mine does and it tastes absolutely awful. the people who make it, they make it quite well. >> bill: have you done it? >> i haven't. i have friends who do it. it is a hobby. >> bill: i've never done it. no interest. >> i might try. i just, ya know -- >> bill: a lot of people do. keep hearing about it. there are such great microbrews

these days. >> exactly. >> bill: you can't beat those. >> it is hard to find a bad beer these days. >> bill: remember we had a guy in? the guy from the belgium cafe. >> you just want to get drunk. >> bill: i know. every friday. all right. yes, indeed. i was on the war room last -- i was on "the war room" the last name with michael shure. we were talking about michele bachmann. we've talked about this report that the republican national committee pointed out or put out last week rather where reince priebus commission this big study. this post-mortem to look at what went wrong in november 2012. we talked about this yesterday morning. what the republican party had to do to shape up. well, the problem with that is that there are people on the right who won't shut up. leading the pack, michele bachmann. she just keeps opening her mouth

and saying stupid things. making the republican party look like a bunch of clowns which unfortunately, too many of them are. we've talked about some of the things that michele bachmann has said. remember all of the crazy stuff she said during the campaign. and she has zero regard for the truth. zero regard for the truth. she got in trouble because she came out and accused some vaccine or something of causing -- >> the hpv -- >> bill: yes. she was blurting and it turned out she had no evidence to back it up. walking out of some event. somebody told her something about the vaccine and then she just went on about it killing people. she went on national television and blurted it out as the truth. so she's always been getting in trouble. lately she just is getting worse and worse. here she is on the floor of the house talking about the affordable care act.

>> that's why we're here. let's repeal this failure before it literally kills women. kills children. kills senior citizens. let's not do that. let's love people. let's care about people. let's repeal it now while we can. >> bill: then she -- before that actually, she was at cpac where she made this wild accusation that president obama is spending billions and billions and billions of dollars at the white house with his luxurious lifestyle that he's got there five chefs on air force i two projectionists who sleep at the white house both of them so that any time the president wants to watch a movie, they're available for him. and this high-paid dog walker who does nothing but walk bo around the white house grounds and it turns out all of that was

completely phony. i happen to know the man. he's a good friend of mine who takes care of bo. he is the superintendent of the grounds of the white house. he's got responsibility for the entire 18 acres. he loves dogs and since richard nixon's dog tim hoe he has volunteered to help take care of the dogs. cnn tried to get her to respond with this and michele bachmann runs away from her. >> you said that he had -- you talked about the ex-s he's engaged in. he has a dog walker which is not true. so the big point of my speech was about benghazi. this is an absolute disaster. >> you also made accusations about the president spending money that other presidents also -- >> the real issue is there are four -- >> bill: yeah, anyhow.

the fact is also, george bush was spending, at the white house, $1.6 billion a year for the entire white house. obama's is $1.4 billion so it is actually less. over half of that is secret service protection for bush and for president obama. yesterday, i tried to get some response out of the white house. josh ernest was the deputy white house press secretary at the briefing. i asked him if he might respond to some of michele bachmann's comments. he wasn't too ready to do so. >> bill? >> bill: what's your reaction to two recent statements by congresswoman michele bachmann the first about the opulence at the white house five chefs on air force i and a high-paid dog walker. necessary? not true? >> not that i know of. >> bill: how about the obamacare? >> bill: how about the fact that obamacare is literally

killing men women and children? >> i'm not sure there's any evidence of that. >> bill: okay. so is she just telling lies? >> bill: is she deliberately not telling the truth? >> i'll leave that assessment to you. >> bill: i'll tell you. yes, she is. in fact, she has received more liar, liar pants on fire comments from designations from politifact than any other member of congress. she's the biggest liar in congress and now michele bachmann is in legal trouble. get this. there is a lawsuit against her out in iowa claiming she stole the names of high school families and sent solicitations to them for money. her campaign did. she is under investigation by the fcc -- no, the fec for alleged improper payments to her chief of staff.

and that was reported yesterday that the office of congressional ethics is investigating her for alleged, we still have to say now but intentional campaign finance violations and if they find that's true, they report that to the congressional ethics committee and michele bachmann could be in some serious trouble with a fine and maybe centured by the house. my question, what should they do about michele bachmann? unfortunately, the people of minnesota re-elected her. but remember, this crazy woman was -- she won the straw poll out in iowa in 2012 and she at one time was the number one republican candidate for president. isn't that -- it is monumentally embarrassing for the republican party. >> it's terrifying. it is scary that that many people even if it is one state that she's best qualified to lead the country. >> bill: yeah. they want to reform the republican party.

they aught to reform it. if they want to start by throwing michele bachmann out of the party. 1-866-55-press. what do we do about michele bachmann? >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. the issues of the day. >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> with a distinctly satirical point of view. if you believe in state's rights but still believe in the drug war you must be high. >> only on current tv.

alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know

that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: michele bachmann as i said last night she's not only a monumental embarrassment to the republican party on "the war room" with michael shure last night i called her a

one-woman carnival cruise she's getting in so much trouble. by the way remember in the primary, i was reminded doing a lil' research for the show, her entire staff -- she has a horrible reputation for turnover among staff here. she's apparently impossible to work for. and at one point in the primary in new hampshire her entire staff walked out. and just said they couldn't stand it anymore. >> getting comments on twitter at bpshow at bpshow. because she is no worse than steve king from iowa. or louie gohmert or paul broun you name it. there are a lot more nuts in that basket. >> bill: she's the nuttiest of all. she won't shut up. >> michele bachmann doesn't represent the entire state of minnesota. just one district. ironically her district is the

one adjacent to keith ellison. >> bill: whoa. >> find us on twitter at bpshow. >> bill: susannah calling from kingston illinois. >> caller: hi, there. i've thought about michele bachmann a lot. i'm a straight person but if i were a lesbian or gay i think it would be horrible to be her daughter. i love you honey, we love you but we're going to have to change you. then we'll love you more and it is so unfair. but i just want to say she should go pray with rand paul in texas or colorado or wherever they live and normal republicans -- i'm a republican but it is not my father's or great grandfather's republican party. i don't want to give up being a republican. i don't want to change to libertarian. rand is named after that russian lady. >> bill: ayn rand. is he named after her? >> i don't think so. >> bill: susannah, you're

right. the republican party of your that's right and grandfather doesn't exist anymore. maybe it will come back. but it won't come back as long as it keeps tolerating nuts like michele bachmann. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." high. cenk uygur: i think the number one thing viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. i think the audience gets that i actually mean it. michael shure: this show is about being up to date so a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. joy behar: you can say anything here. jerry springer: i spent a couple of hours with a hooker writing a check jerry springer: she never cashed it (vo) the day's events. four very unique points of view. tonight starting at 6 eastern.

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show" live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: you get is. it is 33 minutes after the hour here on tuesday march 26. this is the "full court press" on current tv. and on your local progressive talk radio station and on sirius

x.m. this hour only. we're coming to you live from our studio right here on capitol hill in washington, d.c. brought to you today by the national education association the good men and women of the nea creating great public schools all across this land for every student. you bet. for more information, you can go to their web site, nea.org. thanks to their president dennis van roekel. all right. the news of the day. what's going on? you want to know here and around the country, only one place to go. two places to go. it is "full court press" and think progress. when we put them all together on a tuesday morning man you got the best of both worlds. igor volsky, deputy editor of think progress in studio with us again this morning. igor, good to see you. >> good morning. good marriage equality morning to you. >> i like that. >> bill: it is. it will be known as that. supreme court starting today with doma.

>> proposition 8 is today. >> bill: really? yes. >> i thought oh, goodness, no, it is proposition 8 today. doma tomorrow. >> bill: today is proposition 8. california proposition. the supreme court in california had legalized marriage -- adopted marriage equality. the people of california with a lot of money from the church of scientology, so-called church of scientology and the roman catholic church and the mormons put prop 8 on the ballot, overturned marriage equality in california. that's now up in front of the supreme court today. the arguments for and against. so a couple of things. they could rule several different ways on prop 8 right? >> there are lots of different options. if you look at the composition of the court, you can kind of guess one way or another and most folks are saying -- so let's go through the options.

on one hand, they could say major equality is legal in all 50 states. this proposition violence equals protection. it is unconstitutional. we're going to throw it out. all 50 state really applies more to doma. california proposition. but they could say that these kinds of laws that can use a heightened constitutional analysis called heightened scrutiny. they can say that for discriminatory laws -- >> bill: be like a brown versus board of education. >> could be a big moment. you have a pretty conservative court. so historically when they've taken up these decisions especially in gay cases they've interpreted them on very narrow grounds so that is to say that discriminating against gay people and not allowing then to marry may be illegal in california but that's a narrow case. doesn't necessarily mean it will spread to the rest of the country. >> bill: they could flip it in california in effect and leave

it up to each state. >> leave it up to each state. that's what you hear from the defenders of proposition 8 of doma. they say public opinion is shifting. let the democratic process take hold and let's do this state by state. but the bottom line is it is unconstitutional to deny people equal protection under the law no matter what folks think. >> bill: from what i've read and heard and those who follow the court and they can often be wrong but most people seem to believe that the court will overturn prop 8 but not apply it nationwide. >> yes. the thinking is that with folks like roberts and kennedy on the court, they're going to look at this narrowly and that's really the space the ninth circuit permitted when they looked at prop 8 and they said it is unconstitutional to deny rights already given which is what

happened in california. >> bill: okay. couple of things. justice john roberts chief justice john roberts has a cousin who is a lesbian who wants to marry her partner. she's going to be in the court. they'll both be there. she wants to introduce her partner to the chief justice and say here's my cousin. he's a good guy. we're counting on him to do the right thing. is this a rob portman kind of case? >> it could be. roberts don't have a horrible track record on these issues. when he was in private practice, he worked on behalf of gay clients and so took up some of those issues on a pro bono basis so there's room for him certainly, particularly if it's a narrow decision. i think he's very gettable for the pro equality side. >> bill: robinson was here yesterday.

told us he think that we might get a 6-3 verdict out of the court. he thinks roberts is amenable, too. but we know that it could be 8-1 but scalia -- it will not be 8-1 but scalia would never vote for this. he said some pretty nasty things about homosexuality in general. >> we made a long, long list. it came down to 13 different things. he's compared gay people to. it is really quite extraordinary. you'll think it is someone like brian fisher from the american family association or tony perkins or one of these guys. no, no no, this is justice scalia. he's on our court. let's go through some of these. he's compared -- this is from all of his different opinions. he's compared gay people to murderers, homosexuality to polygamy to cruelty to animals drug addicts smokers

prostitution, heroin use incest adultery, obscenity child pornography bestiality and it is just like having a roommate. >> bill: like having a roommate. >> same thing. the roommates he has? where did he go to school? >> bill: i think he's got a little homophobia. >> little problem there yeah. so him and alito are the two that will be the hardest to move. >> bill: not thomas? >> thomas if you make the federalism that the government is overreaching, federal government is overreaching, he might strike doma on that ground. >> bill: today and tomorrow. prop 8 today. doma tomorrow. the united states supreme court. i want to ask you about you've also talked about and written about this interview yesterday. "the today show" airing an interview not done by members of the today staff peter. who was it that did that?

>> john veigler. >> bill: who was doing an interview with sandusky. he brought the interview to abc and they -- to nbc and they aired it on "the today show." >> we know today is in second place and they're having struggles about lauer and curie and who pushed who out. thisserer interview, it is part of a documentary they're putting together and the purpose of the documentary is to exonerate this sandusky and -- >> bill: and paterno too. >> they don't believe -- well, question a lot of the witnesses that came forward that said they

saw sandusky in the bathroom doing what he was doing. trying to assassinate that kind of testimony. and you know, this isn't -- yeah, he's a former talk show host but he's not some kind of objective journalist. this is the guy who made the documentary media malpractice how obama got elected. blocking path to 9-11. a film defending -- you remember that bill clinton 9-11 series back in 2008 making the connection saying that bill clinton was responsible for 9-11. so you know, this really -- atrocious. if you saw the ads for this thing yesterday. it made it sound like it was like matt lauer or someone from nbc news doing the interview. >> i didn't realize up until the very last minute, it wasn't really "the today show" or nbc that was behind this.

they farmed it out or brought this other guy on who had no real relationship to the network. let him take over the show. >> bill: my question is whoever did the interview why? what was the redeeming feature or purpose result of having an interview with a child rapist? right? a convicted child rapist. not just accused. convicted child rapist. we heard his b.s. excuses before and all of his denial. you know, he's a -- >> this guy -- >> bill: he's a scumbag. why put him on "the today show"? >> ziegler is a creature of the right. like rick santorum who don't believe the accusations. who question the report that brought all of this together and said that paterno, he didn't do anything. and i don't know what it's about but it's very strange to me from this family values, protecting

children. >> his main crusade as you pointed out are joe paterno was framed for all of this. journalists have looked at it. independent reports have looked at it. joe paterno, while he had a stellar career and did a lot of great things he screwed up on this. he didn't do the right thing. you can't try to cover that up. >> bill: no. he is as bad as the catholic bishops and cardinals in some cases who were told that you've got priests here who are also raping little boys and they looked the other way or they move them out of harm's way or didn't alert authorities and joe paterno was told this about jerry sandusky. he did not alert authorities. no matter what his great football career was he failed. at this. and jerry sandusky got caught and nab and got convicted. now we put him on "the today show" as if look, kids, here is

a great guy you should be emulating. >> it wasn't an open trial at his trial. the testimony was so convicting, the victims were so consistent, nobody doubted he was guilty. the fact -- "the today show," bizarre to me, breitbart maybe but "the today show"? >> bill: rand paul, you got mad at me the last time i said rand paul did something good on drones. he did something else. igor will tell us all about it when we come back here. 1-866-55-press. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv. this is the "bill press show." inside the headlines, way inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current.

[ male announcer ] it's red lobster's lobsterfest our largest selection of lobster entrees like lobster lover's dream or new grilled lobster and lobster tacos. come in now and sea food differently. now, buy one lobsterfest entree and get one 1/2 off with a coupon at redlobster.com. dude, i need your help fast. well, clearasil's fast. yeah, but is it this fast? faster! how about this fast? clearasil's faster! this fast?? faster!! woh! that is fast! fix breakouts fast with clearasil ultra. it starts working instantly, sending the max amount of medicine allowed deep into your pores for visibly clearer skin in as little as 12 hours. yeah, it's fast. clearasil, the science of clear skin.

(vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. (vo) she's joy behar. >>current will let me say anything.

>> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. >> bill: 12 minutes before the top of the hour. in the next hour, we're going to talk fish. genetically-modified fish. fish that will grow this big overnight. and like the one i caught last time went fishing and whether or not you would go for the monster salmon that they're talking about producing. right now we're talking all things political here in our nation's capital with igor volsky the deputy editor of the great site, think progress. thinkprogress.org. during the break, we learned there are now two more united states senators, igor, that have come out. this is a cascade of senators. dominoes are falling. two more senators have come out

in support of same-sex marriage. yesterday it was claire mccaskill. today it is mark begich of alaska and mark warner of new jersey. >> you also have yesterday tim johnson and -- tim johnson and rockefeller of west virginia saying they now oppose doma, the defense of marriage act. so these guys are really trying to get ahead of the court. and get this out. they know they want to lead on this issue, i guess. not follow the justices. it is a good thing to see. winds have really changed. they're tripping over themselves to proclaim their support for marriage equality. >> bill: who would have thought. >> four or five years ago. >> bill: that this would happen. let's go back to rand paul. i saluted rand paul for doing a real filibuster. >> you've been a big fan yeah.

>> bill: no. >> let's not overstate it. >> bill: but on the filibuster the good thing, by doing a real filibuster and raising an important issue the issue of drones. which that issue is not going away. now, rand paul has come up with another, i think, on the right side of a good issue, think progress reporting on. >> something else we can agree with him on. mandatory minimums for small-time drug possession. rand paul is a libertarian kind of guy and a lot of the issues. surprisingly, not on marriage equality. at least not yet. he multiple sims said he's -- times said he's for marriage between one man and one woman. said there's no reason people should be rotting away in jail for 50, 45 years for having a small bag of marijuana on them. he says look, i'm not for folks smoke marijuana. they can do that, i guess if they would like. let's make sure we're not

spending all of this money spending our law enforcement resources on jailing these guys. s. >> bill: decriminalization. >> he's working a bipartisan effort with leahy to move this in the senate. and you know, this appeals to a lot of young people in particular. >> bill: i was going to say. talk about outreach to young people. >> this is how you do it. this is how you do it. for a guy who may run in 2016, he knows how to ignite that base that base his dad had when he was running. >> bill: it is not just young people too. there are a lot of boomer potheads out there that may or may not vote but at any rate, yeah, i think it is a good issue. >> that's why democrats, i think, need to get ahead on this and take policy seriously. >> bill: amen. finally, mayor bloomberg says he is spending $12 million of his

own money running ads in states, 13 states where there are senators who could be key votes on the gun safety legislation on the floor of the senate. does this increase the like i hadhood of -- the likelihood of getting that measure passed? >> it is good to have a counter weight to the nra because for many, many years these guys, if they didn't vote for gun safety, doesn't matter. nobody went after hem them. now you will have bloomberg holding them to account. last week, there is a fear in the progressive community about the background check legislation. this is something 90% of americans support but they don't yet have 60 votes. so senator reid, the majority leader was kind of going back and forth should it be included, should it not be included in a broad underlining bill that goes after the trafficking and the straw purchasing everybody agrees on that. do you include background checks in the overall bill? it will be in it. he decided. after a lot of lobbying

thankfully. so now there is a big big effort to get some of the democratic senators in red states like north dakota, begich in alaska, for instance. mccaskill in missouri, to vote for this provision that a lot of their constituents support. even if you go state by state basis in the red states, it is north of 80%. so there's a lot of i think education that nides to be done and advocacy on the ground. we need background checks for all. >> bill: now, we have an alternative voice to the nra on this issue. mayor michael bloomberg and the mayors against illegal guns. that's his organization. as always, igor, we just scratched the surface but we covered a lot. thank you so much for coming in. >> thank you. >> bill: managing editor of think progress. think progress.com. >> sounds so fresh still. >> bill: thinkprogress.org. make it your home page. we'll tell you about the e-mails

for today. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." so, stop just cleaning. start healthing.

>> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> with a distinctly satirical point of view. if you believe in state's rights but still believe in the drug war you must be high. >> only on current tv.

>> announcer: taking your e-mails on any topic at any time, this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: here we go. this clears one thing up. john affirms that, in fact, rand paul is named after ayn rand. she's the darling of the conservatives and the libertarians, of course, with her two books "the fountainhead" and "atlas

shrugged," she was called earlier on the show that russian lady. sounds russian but she's not. she was an american. hero of michele bachmann and other nut cases like rand paul.

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: hey, good morning everybody. what do you say friends and neighbors, good to see you this morning. it is tuesday march 26. this is the "full court press." here we go. coming to you live on current tv. and bringing you the news of the day. where it's happening we're

there on top of it for you whether it is here in our nation's capital kind of quiet here in the nation's capital because the house and the senate are both on easter break. but not quite at the supreme court, people have been camped out in front of the supreme court for about three or four days now trying to get in for today's big hearing the first of two days of hearings on the defense of marriage act and on proposition 8 in california both revolving of course around the issue of same-sex marriage. there is breaking news today that mark begich, democratic senator from alaska and mark warner, democratic senator from virginia have both now come out in support of same-sex marriage. a number of senators doing so, keeps growing growing every day. and on the defense of marriage act, which bill clinton signed in 1996, bill clinton now says it was a mistake. he regrets signing that

legislation. and we all hope that the supreme court justices agree with him. in other news, over in afghanistan, john kerry and president hamid karzai meet, bury the hatchet and reduce tensions between the two countries and tiger woods is back as the nation's number one golfer. boy, that's just some of what we'll be talking about right here on current tv. going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.

you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not

bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation, on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: two more united states senators, mark begich from alaska, mark warner from virginia, coming out in support of same-sex marriage just in time for today's supreme court arguments. what do you say?

hello, everybody. great to see you today. good morning, good morning, good morning. good tuesday morning. march 26. it is the "full court press" coming to you live from our nation's capital. the most powerful city on the planet. we're talking washington, d.c. we're right in the heart of the action here on capitol hill. just down the street from the united states capitol building and just down the street from the supreme court where people have been camped in front of the supreme court for several days now in order to maybe get in to hear the arguments today and tomorrow on marriage equality. those big cases -- there will be and have been dueling rallies held in front of the supreme court by the supporters of marriage equality and those mainly from religious organizations who do not understand what the new testament is all about who for religious reasons they also

don't understand what same-sex marriage is all about. for religious reasons, there are opposing same-sex marriage and assisting marriage can only be between one man and one woman. so a lot of excitement here in washington. that's how we'll kick off the top of this hour. a lot more to talk about too. we'll cover it all with team press here. peter ogborn and dan henning. >> hey hey hey. >> good morning. >> bill: as well as see i haven't lee webb -- as well as see i haven't lee webb sitting in on the phones and cyprian bowlding on the video cam. he was waving. >> bill: the sports world very exciting last night. big bout, big cage match big fight. yes. i know, peter. >> i know what's coming, i'm sorry. >> bill: michael was the announcer. one of the fighters was danny

manis. but the announcer mike, ska vel low is an australian who doesn't pronounce it quite right but he's calling the fight. so here's a little montage of him mangling manis. >> you watch one. i'll watch the other. >> i'll watch manis. manis turning with the clinch. he could be in trouble. manis stuck here. >> he's bleeding over chavez's chest. >> manis bleeding all over. [ laughter ] >> that's a bit of trouble here.

>> bill: sports desk here. so coming up -- >> who needs march madness when you've got manis. >> bill: congressman john yarmuth joining us. the weather guy in los angeles. >> hugh jane is. >> bill: congressman from kentucky will be with us later in the morning. evan mcmorris santos will be with us from "buzzfeed." then we'll be talking with a representative from the center of food safety about this new proposal to have offered for sale in supermarkets, genetically-modified atlantic salmon. but first -- >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> other headlines making news on this tuesday president obama yesterday designated five new national monuments using powers

given to him under the antiquities act they already -- charles young buffalo soldiers national monument in ohio. the first state national monument in delaware. harriet tubman underground railroad national monument. out in new mexico, the rio grande dell del~norte monument. the president said in a state that the sites honor the pioneering heroes, spectacular landscapes and rich history that have shaped our extraordinary country. >> bill: i'm confused or puzzled by this delaware monument. being a native of delaware, i think it is up where it is parts in delaware and parts in pennsylvania. i'm not sure where it is. delaware city. >> you'll have to go and visit. >> bill: i might. >> the alabama crimson tide fan who committed a major crime in trying to prank his alma mater's

biggest rival auburn university has learned his fate. cbs news reports former police officer harvey updike jr. will spend six months in prison and serve five years supervised probation. you remember back in 2010, he poisoned an iconic set of 130-year-old oak trees on auburn's campus. he was fined $1,000 and he is banned for life from attending any college sporting events. >> bill: wow. >> i don't think he's going for prison long enough. six months isn't nearly long enough. >> tiger woods -- is officially back winning the arnold palmer invitational for the eightal -- eighth time. arnold palmer stood at the edge of the green watching, tiger is now ranked number one in the world again. a big climb from where he was back in 2010. he was at number 58 when he was

dealing with those troubles in his personal life. next up is the masters. he will try to win his first major in five years. >> bill: masters. >> his first major. one of the four majors. >> bill: got it. all right. i've got my arnold palmer this morning. there you go. all i need is the lemonade. what a big day today and tomorrow at the supreme court. this is an issue a lot of people have been praying for and working for and fighting for for a long time and it comes to a head the next few days where the justices will hear arguments in support of marriage equality. today, they will hear arguments on proposition 8 and tomorrow arguments for and against the defense of marriage act. mark solomon is head of a -- one of the organizations pushing for marriage equality for many years. freedom to marry. national campaign director mark

solomon joining us on our news line this morning. mark congratulations. it is a big day. thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> bill: let's start with prop 8. that's up in front of the court today. this is a california measure as a californian i have been working with this issue for a long time. but the supreme court oks same-sex marriage, proposition 8 overturns it. the lower courts have now overturned proposition 8. why did the supreme court take it up and what do you expect? >> well, the supreme court took it up, i think because it is ruled 14 times that marriage is a fundamental freedom in this country and i think they're look at whether it's acceptable or not for gay and lesbian couples who are committed, who are raising families, who are serving their countries serving the military, whether they should be able to be excluded from that freedom to marry.

that's what's before the court today. >> bill: and again dealing with the california prop 8 case today, how could they -- what are the options they've got in front of them as you see? >> there are a lot of different permutations of rulings from more simply overturning prop 8 to ruling that the fundamental freedom to marry. this is what we believe is right and accurate. and how they should rule is the fundamental freedom to marry is a fundamental freedom and that there's no reason to exclude simply exclude gay and lesbian couples just because they're gay and lesbian from the fundamental freedom to marry which would mean there would be marriage nationwide. >> bill: in all 50 states. so let me just ask you is

freedom to marry one of the people in front of the court today? >> we're not in front of the court. we're an advocacy organization, not a legal group. >> bill: ted olson and david david boies are representing the pro marriage arguments. >> correct. >> bill: so are they asking the court to recognize the legality and the -- that this is the way the entire country should go? are they asking the court to make this apply to all 50 states or just california or do we know? >> we know. and the broadest arguments that they have is asking for the courts to say that same-sex couples nationwide can't be excluded from this fundamental freedom to marry. that simply because a couple is gay is not enough of a reason to exclude them. in fact, that's no good reason at all to exclude same-sex

couples from freedom to marry. what we've seen in polling is that 64% of americans according to "washington post" poll wants this to be handled constitutionally. they realize that this patchwork , you're married in new york. you're not married in pennsylvania and then you're not married until you get to iowa, it just doesn't make sense. >> bill: so what do you say to those -- i've read several -- totally agree with you on the issue. i think it should be all 50 states and there's no reason to wait. but a lot of people are saying no, let's take it one step at a time. one state at a time, in other words. >> the court could rule more narrowly. and that's the way we've been going is one state at a time. we started in massachusetts. we've secured the freedom to marry in nine states and the

district of columbia. what we're saying is that the constitution does guarantee a fundamental freedom to marry just as the constitution guarantees that there can't be a ban in a racial marriage. and in loving vs. virginia, best-named case ever, the court ruled that in fact, you couldn't exclude -- states couldn't keep blacks and whites from marrying. >> bill: marc solomon is joining us on our news line this morning. from the freedom to marry. you can find out more about their efforts at freedomto freedomtomarry.org. front page of "the new york times" article sure you've seen where former president bill clinton who signed doma in 1996 now says it was a big mistake. he regrets it. he's asking the court to overturn it. do you think they will?

>> i do. i do think they will. i do think -- the defense of marriage act basically says that we don't care what your state says about marriage. we don't care if iowa and new york have allowed gay couples to marry. we're not going to recognize it. we're going to treat married gay couples from around the country as legal strangers but treat married heterosexual couples as fully married. >> bill: at the federal level. >> at the federal level exactly. >> bill: you started to say huge implications. >> yeah, so the woman edie windsor whose case is being heard tomorrow, and i'll be fortunate enough to be in the courtroom for that one is -- she was with her partner for 40 plus years until her partner passed away. and what happened is that because her partner life partner and eventually wife was named fia instead of fio, she ended up having to pay $363,000

in an inheritance tax but her wife -- when her wife passed away. if she had been married to a man, that wouldn't have been the case because the law protects inheritance for married couples. so federal government treated her and her spouse, even as a legal stranger, with the state of new york saw them as legally married. >> bill: today marc, final question. we learned yesterday it was claire mccaskill, today is it is mike warner and mark begich, two more united states senators have come out in support of marriage equality. i know -- >> one more. we have rockefeller yesterday as well. >> bill: jay rockefeller yesterday. thank you. so i know you're pleased as am i. are you surprised at how fast the tide is turning on this issue? >> i would say you know, it is turning quickly. historically, very quickly. you know, i guess in some ways,

i'm not surprised because it just seems so american. >> bill: right. so obvious too. why is it such a big issue. you've been working at it a long time. and hopefully with the -- when the justices rule on these two cases, we will have reached the promiseland, so to speak. marc, thanks for joining us. enjoy the court tomorrow. that should be exciting legal theatre as josh ernest called it yesterday. >> thank you very much. >> bill: marc solomon campaign director of freedom to marry. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." date, staying in touch with everything that is going on

politically and putting my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding.

john fugelsang: if you believe in states rights but still support the drug war you must be high. cenk uygur: i think the number one thing viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. i think the audience gets that i actually mean it. michael shure: this show is about being up to date so a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. joy behar: you can say anything here. jerry springer: i spent a couple of hours with a hooker joy behar: your mistake was writing a check jerry springer: she never cashed it (vo) the day's events. four very unique points of view. tonight starting at 6 eastern.

>> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. >> bill: 25 minutes after the hour. in the next segment we'll get into a food safety, particularly talking about this new plan. got our attention. to start producing the genetically-modified salmon that can grow faster and fatter than any other salmon and put them on the market. some people are upset about it. we'll find out more about it from jd hansen, the senior policy analyst for the center for food safety. from food safety to just briefly here on gun safety, as we know, there is now a gun safety bill on the floor of the senate.

it does include universal background checks, does not include a ban on assault weapons although it can be -- amendment can be offered. there will be that amendment offered, ban on assault weapons by senator dianne feinstein. there should be a vote up or down on the assault weapons ban as part of the gun legislation. meanwhile, state after state after state new york state maryland among other states have adopted strong gun safety measures in the wake of newtown connecticut. connecticut, the state is considering such legislation and of course, guess who is out there opposing it? fighting it? trying to kill it? the nra with robo calls being heard in the state of connecticut even in the city of newtown, connecticut. you might pick up the phone and hear this.

>> anti-gun legislators are aggressively pursuing numerous proposals that are designed to disarm and punish law-abiding gun owners and sportsmen. these bills would ban commonly-owned firearms, impose a gun rationing scheme and mandate gun registration. it is critical you contact your senator, art lennar is today and urge him to oppose any legislation that tramples on your second amendment rights and inhibits your inherent right to self-defense. >> bill: how disgusting! how disgusting. they just don't give up! and i mean, that idea that we are anti-sportsmen because you can't have an assault weapon. that somehow assault weapons are what sportsmen need for hunting. it is just ridiculous. again, you have to remember the nra is representing nobody but the big gun manufacturers. the idea that the residents of

newtown, connecticut should be subjected to that kind of onslaught is really, really outrageous. let's talk from gun safety back to food safety next. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." compelling true stories. >> jack, how old are you? >> nine. >> this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current.

>> bill: 33 minutes after the hour now here on the "full court press." good morning. march 26. we're coming to you live from our nation's capital brought to you today by the international association of ironworkers. the ironworkers, yes, you bet

the sky is the limit for them and you can find out more about their good work under president walter wiese at their web site, www.ironworkers.org. well, story caught our attention certainly last week. when we read that we may soon find in our supermarket genetically-modified atlantic salmon. that grow fatter and faster than your average salmon or normal salmon. as we started asking ourselves if this was a good idea or whether we would ever buy it, on this issue we don't know what the hell we're talking about. we brought in somebody who does. he is the national -- i'm sorry the senior policy analyst for the center for food safety. j.d. hansen. nice to see you this morning. thanks for coming in. >> good morning. >> bill: tell us about these atlantic salmon.

atlantic salmon is an endangered species, right? >> right. >> bill: so these are genetically-modified how? >> well, these have two genes from two unrelated fish stuck into them. one is an arctic eelopout and the other is a chinook salmon. the idea is that these fish would get to market size quicker. >> bill: putting the extra genes means they're bigger, faster right? >> yeah. it is sort of like instead of having to inject an animal with a steroid you build it into its body. >> bill: why do we need a bigger and fatter salmon? to make more money off of them or what? >> basically. so a fish farmer can make more money faster. >> bill: are these fish -- they stick -- the genes in them and release them in the ocean and catch them?

>> they say they're going to be raising them in tanks on land. now, i've been up to prince edward island where the research facility and they're setting up these tanks to raise these fish. actually, it is a little bit weird. the food and drug administration is saying you will approve this if you grow the fish in canada. harvest the eggs, ship the eggs down to panama. raise them in other tanks in panama. and then butcher them and send them back in packages for the u.s. market. >> bill: good lord. >> this is hardly farm to table. not eating locally. good grief. >> it is not even locally. the company that's producing them keeps saying well, we'll be able to eventually have a tank right by your restaurant so you'll be able to get fresh

salmon any time of the year. >> bill: so wait, is this an american firm doing this or a canadian firm? >> it is even weirder than that. it started out to be a canadian project. investment, small investment from u.s. firm. and then when they ran short of money, they got a former soviet ole garch who likes to play with fish farming invested a lot of money and now they're getting a new infusion of cash from a u.s. company that is dna.com. >> what? >> bill: whoa. yeah. so now, one assumes that the salmon will be good to eat. the plan is they'll be sold in u.s. supermarkets, right?

>> right. >> bill: will we know we're buying this phony salmon? >> we won't. they're not going to be labeled. >> no. >> at least the ones that come in from panama under current law, you have to label fish from other countries. but if you go to a restaurant, they don't have to be labeled. the problem is they're not even -- the food and drug administration is not testing this as a new food. they're testing these genes as a new drug for the fish. and so they're ignoring most of the food safety issues. >> bill: but it seems to me it is a new food. i saw your press release an amendment that senator begich from alaska has introduced to the budget in the senate budget, which, i think passed, right, which would require labeling genetically-engineered

fish. >> passed and we're happy with that. we hope that the food and drug administration listens to that. >> bill: okay now they don't have to. but if this passes, then they will correct? >> right. but they -- you know, the food and drug administration is still considering whether to label or not. and we've urged them to require labeling. >> bill: boy, i would think so. i certainly would like to know what i'm buying. >> absolutely. when you look at this -- so i mean it is sort of a question of why even do this. so is this an economical move? it doesn't sound like if we're doing the eggs in canada shipping them to panama and then importing them to the united states, is that somehow going to save us money? >> no. what it's saving, it's savings the food and drug administration from doing a real environmental

review. >> oh. >> because the way they play with drug producers which is what they're going to consider these fish farms first they approve a drug producer in one location and that's rigorous. then the next locations they don't have to do much. this is a way to side step real environmental review so you could take these fish and once they're approved and say oh i want to plant on the connecticut river where we spent millions of dollars to restore atlantic salmon runs. and then these fish could get out and they're supposed to be sterile but they're only about 95% of them sterile. but they could get out eat the same food. i call them the hungry teenagers of the fish world because they're genetically-engineered

to be hungry all the time. >> i just sat down and watched the movie "jurassic park" with my kids the other day and the scientists were saying there's no way they could ever get out in the wild but somehow nature finds a way. >> bill: there are a lot of stories like that. where does this fit into the overall scheme of genetically-modified foods in this country? >> most of the food that people are eating in this country already are processed products from corn and soybeans. this would be the first whole food -- >> bill: totally made up. totally genetically-modified. when you eat corn syrup, it is mostly from genetically-modified corn. when you eat even tofu, it is

mostly in the u.s. from genetically-modified soybeans. most of the canola oil you buy it is from genetically-modified. the problem is this would be the very first time that you're not heat treating, grinding up, processing the food and when i look at the data that the company provided, fda has not done any testing of its own. they just trust you know, that the company -- well, the company has to test -- one of the things they have to test genetically-modified food for is does it cause more allergies? the company tested six fish. of the kind we're going to eat and it looks like they're going to produce more allergies but the fda says oh, lots of people are allergic to salmon already so they won't -- but if you're just a little allergic, not a

whole lot more but six fish isn't even high school science project. the company and the fda says this is good science. well, it's not. >> let's say you're someone who's not well-informed on this issue and you ask yourself, what's wrong with genetically engineered food? fish or vegetables or whatever. i mean what is the downside? for people who don't know? >> my real concern with this fish and you know, every fish needs to be looked at differently. every crop needs to be looked at differently because they're engineered different. my real concern with this one is there's a kind of hormone called igf1 and that hormone is found at levels 40% higher in this fish than it is in ordinary salmon. that's important.

because this hormone is linked to brain cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer. now, you know, we may not -- even their fish may not be cheap enough that we can eat it every meal. but things add up. >> bill: what's the solution? we make them bigger and bigger and bigger so we can get more cancer. the whole thing is mind-boggling to me. i'm glad somebody is working on this issue and you and your friends at the center for food safety are doing so. jaydee, thanks for coming in today. you can find out more. this is one of the things they're working on. center for food safety. center for food safety.org. good work. keep up the fight. and keep us healthy. we're counting on you. thank you jaydee. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

anything. what the hell were they thinking?

>> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> with a distinctly satirical point of view. if you believe in state's rights but still believe in the drug war you must be high. >> only on current tv.

>> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 12 minutes before the top of the hour. from "buzzfeed," evan mcmorris santoro here as a "friend of bill" in the next hour. how about it. before we get back to the news of the day down in florida authorities have arrested five identity theft suspects. they had gathered up information on personal information on thousands of people. we're trying to sell them. they walked into a sting

operation. by florida state authorities called operation shark tank. fortunately those residents were all spared the agony of identity theft but it is bad. i've been a victim of it. that's why i've got the protection now from lifelock ultimate. i encourage you to get the same. but, of course, lifelock can't protect if you you're not a member. so call now and mention press 60. you can get 60 risk-free days of lifelock ultimate identity theft protection. if you're not happy with what you get here's the deal. call again within another 60 days and cancel. you get a full refund. see lifelock.com for details and give them a call at 1-800-356-5967 for lifelock ultimate. couple other stories in the news we wanted to bring you up to date on -- >> bill, say good morning to

pedro kazata. >> bill: good morning. buenos dias, pedro. >> he is the winner of the $338 million powerball jackpot. he is also -- >> bill: i take it back, i hate you pedro. >> he took your money. he is dominican immigrant. he has five kids. he's a family man. he owns a bodega in new jersey. he won $338 million. >> bill: did he buy it at his own bodega? >> a liquor store in his neighborhood. the lickser store will get like $10,000. >> bill: is that all? they ought to get more than that >> he's only given one statement. it was in spanish and he just said i am very happy. we can expect to see more from

mr. kazata. the "new york post" and "the new york daily news" both had the same exact headline. i will let you guess for mr. pedro kazata. >> bill: i hope it was not insulting to immigrants. >> no, i don't think it was at all. >> bill: no. rigo gets rich. >> the man's name is pedro. they did p-a-y-d-r-o. both with the same headline. $338 million jackpot dad. congratulations. we're big fans. send us a check. >> bill: yeah. next powerball i might drive to -- up to the eagle liquor store. >> that's your problem. >> bill: this caught my attention, too. well let me switch.

while we're on that theme president obama in the east room of the white house yesterday, presided over naturalization ceremony for some 23 24 people including some members of the military. who are serving in the military in uniform taking the oath of citizenship. president obama telling them first of all that, in his remarks, now is the time to pass immigration reform to make sure that those people who are here and want to come here are able to come here and those people who did come here illegally or the families that long time ago have some path to citizenship president obama saying now's the time. >> obama: the time's come for a comprehensive, sensible, immigration reform. >> bill: and as the president pointed out yesterday again he has met on many occasions we're a nation of immigrants and those immigrants who come here make us a better country.

>> obama: immigration makes us stronger. it keeps us vibrant. it keeps us hungry. it keeps us prosperous. it is part of what makes this such a dynamic country. >> bill: yes. and the president also saying that a path to citizenship has to be part of any final package by the way. just quickly on another issue we always hear about fox news. it is so right wing. it is not fair and balanced at all. it is the media arm of the republican national committee. i've said that myself many times. the pew research center just did a little analysis of the cable news networks, look at their bias in the sense of how much of their broadcast day is devoted to opinion? and to commentary? fox news, 50% opinion. 45% reporting. 55%. obviously it doesn't add up. 55% opinion.

45% reporting. you can say i told you so. i told you that fox news leans so far to the right. except oops! they looked at msnbc, too and msnbc has 90% opinion during their daytime cycle and evening. 90% on msnbc as compared to fox. i guess you have to say that msnbc leans farther left than fox leans right. >> their slogan lean forward works if it means lean to the left. >> bill: not that there's anything wrong with that. msnbc has really taken over as the network on the left. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv.

like lobster lover's dream or new grilled lobster and lobster tacos. come in now and sea food differently. now, buy one lobsterfest entree and get one 1/2 off with a coupon at redlobster.com. your vacuum doesn't always pick up what's left behind. only the resolve easy clean system has foam power to remove three times more dirt than vacuuming alone. don't just vacuum clean. resolve clean.

i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right president obama with a very full schedule today. he and the vice president get the daily briefing this morning at 10:30. the president's got meetings with senior advisers at 12:30. he and the vice president have their weekly lunch. this afternoon big day for the west coast. he welcomes two great teams championship teams from los angeles. the stanley cup champion los angeles kings and the champion l.a. galaxy, soccer and hockey in the east room. that will be at 1:45 this afternoon. at 3:30 this afternoon he meets with secretary of defense chuck

hagel. our briefing today will be, again, with deputy press secretary josh ernest at 12:15. back with evan mcmorris santoro as a "friend of bill."

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: what do you say friends and neighbors. good to see you this morning. welcome to the "full court press" here on current tv. it is tuesday march 26. and it is a busy day here in our nation's capital. congress may be in recess but the supreme court is in business

and today's the first of two days that they're going to hear arguments on both sides of the issue of marriage equality, same-sex marriage. today, they'll be hearing arguments about california's proposition 8. and then tomorrow, arguments on defense of marriage act which president clinton says was a big mistake. president clinton who signed doma back in 1996. again, he says it was a big mistake. we hope the supreme court agrees with him. in other news, in afghanistan john kerry and president hamid karzai, they've been friends for a long time. they met yesterday. they've reduced the tension between our two nations and in effect buried the hatchet. meanwhile, here and back in the united states, connecticut is the latest state to consider tough gun safety -- new gun safety measures but the nra is busily attacking them, running robo ads against them.

on the sports front tiger woods is back as number one among america's golfer and the miami heat last night winning number 27 in a row. we got it covered. from one end to the other. coming up next right here on current tv. support the drug war you must be high. cenk uygur: i think the number one thing viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. i think the audience gets that i actually mean it. michael shure: this show is about being up to date so a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. joy behar: you can say anything here. jerry springer: i spent a couple of hours with a hooker joy behar: your mistake was writing a check jerry springer: she never cashed it (vo) the day's events. four very unique points of view. tonight starting at 6 eastern.

[clucking]. everyone wants to be the cadbury bunny. cause only he brings delicious cadbury crème eggs, while others may keep trying. nobunny knows easter better than cadbury!

you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not

bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: in the last two days, four senators, claire mccaskill jay rockefeller, mark begich and mark warner, all coming out in support of same-sex marriage. are the justices in the supreme

court watching and listening? good morning everybody. what do you say? it is tuesday march 26. this is the "full court press." here we go! our final hour together today wrapping up the news of the day and, of course, taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. you get to weigh in as well as we do on the issues of the day. you can do so by giving us a call at that toll free number for talking to us on twitter at bpshow or on facebook. facebook.com/billpressshow. be our friend on facebook. we had a lot to cover today. a lot of issues. we can't do it ourselves. we always need some help. who better to help us this morning from "buzzfeed," evan mcmorris santoro here for the entire hour! as a "friend of bill." >> whole hour. i'm excited. >> bill: hi, evan. >> i dress up now more that i'm with "buzzfeed." >> your first official visit since you've started with "buzzfeed." >> bill: last time we were able to announce it was going to

happen. >> it was a send-off show. >> bill: does john stanton require you come in -- >> he likes more of a skull belt this is my boss at "buzzfeed," he wants a big skull ring but i haven't shaved my head yet. that's coming up. >> mandatory tats. >> business tattoo. >> bill: okay, good. the team here. we have our own dress code. whatever you want to wear. peter ogborn and dan henning. stevie lee webb somewhere taking care of the phones for us. hello. and cyprian bowlding. hello, cyp. >> everybody's here. >> bill: taking care of the cell phones. what am i saying? >> cameras. >> are you drunk? [ laughter ] >> cyprian does have a phone. >> bill: he's always got it in hand. speaking of which is mine off?

no. [ laughter ] >> you did yell at me once about that. my mom told me to turn my phone off. >> is your mom watching right now? >> i don't know if she's watching now. she might be watching later on tivo. she tivos it. >> bill: yesterday the big news. of course, congress is out of town. the president was out of town last week. he's back. the supreme court is still in business today. first of two days. biggest news in washington. first of two days, hearing arguments on the issue of marriage equality. there have been people, evan, camped out in front of the supreme court for the last five days and we just had our first snowstorm of the year. we waited until spring to have it snow. washington can't get the seasons right. but you know, the people out there camped out. here is a clip from one of them. doesn't matter to them there. >> our sleeping bags got wet you know. we got a little snowed over. but you know, we're here to

stand up for equality so you know, a little snow is no big deal. >> bill: little snow, no big deal. they're there for the historical moment. >> i camped out once in my life for r.e.m. tickets. >> that's cool. >> back when i was in high school. i will never do anything like that again. there is nothing now i can say i'll sleep on a sidewalk to get. >> which era? in the sarong phase? >> it was. it was no at good phase. but it was my phase. [ laughter ] >> bill: so evan mcmorris santoro here as a "friend of bill" and we'll be joined by congressman john yarmuth later and then avery friedman, our legal beagle is going to join us to talk about this insane ruling today. the italian supreme court saying that amanda knox, american citizen who was acquitted of

murder by another court in italy, about a year ago maybe and she's back in this country. now the supreme court in italy has ruled they want to re-try her for murder. how can they do that? we'll find out from avery friedman. but first -- >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> other headlines making news on this truce bill gates is offering up a big prize to whoever invents the next generation condom. yes, the former head of microsoft is offering up $100,000 for a new condom design that enhances user experience while protecting against unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. bill and mel inga gates foundation says it is clear that the desire to use condoms is down so they need to be reinvented. >> a condom with all of the fun and excitement of microsoft windows. [ laughter ] doesn't sound -- >> bill: i'm not the expert in

this field but there are condoms today that are designed to increase pleasure at the same time provide protection. >> apparently he thinks you can do it better. >> clipy on it. pop up. that's enough. i'm sorry. [ laughter ] >> switching from software to hardware. >> oh, no. >> bill: all right. >> russia is so worried about the weather for next year's olympic -- >> bill: the guy's got all the money in the world. this is the most important project? >> i mean seriously, if you look at the stuff behind it, the idea here is that they're have -- they have a hard time getting people to use protection in these countries where they're trying to prevent a.i.d.s. and stds and pregnancy and unwanted pregnancy so the idea is if you can build a better condom a better mousetrap if you will, you'll catch more mice. >> bill: you go across the street to cvs, there are a lot of choices among condoms. i've been told.

>> man. >> good field clip for you guys. buying condoms with bill. >> russia is so worried about the weather for next year's olympic games that they are storing snow from this winter to have on hand just in case. reuters reports olympic organizers are taking advantage of a massive winter storm that hit moscow this week. they're scooping up 450,000 cubic meters of snow and trucking it up to high elevations where it will be covered with a special thermal seal to help prevent melting over the summer. organizers -- >> a special thermoseal. >> they estimate with an $11 million price tag to only lose about a third of the snow that they'll store over the summer due to melting. >> bill: only the russians would do that, right? store their snow from one year to the next. >> crazy thing about snow is there is a shelf life for it. i imagine it will turn into ice

at some point. >> bill: if we had thought about that, we could have had snow this winter if we had saved it from last winter. >> take our june snowstorm. >> 27 winning games in a row. that's where the miami heat now stand after beating the orlando magic 108-94 without dwyane wade for a second straight night. he's out with a sore knee but lebron james got to work with 24 points, 11 assists. heat are now six games away from breaking the nba all-time consecutive wins record. 33 games. >> bill: lebron james made the right decision. >> in less than a week, they play the san antonio spurs. >> bill: peter keeps saying when they play the spurs -- >> my team. >> you think so? >> i think so, yeah. look, i don't want to take anything away from the heat. this is magic that we're watching. this is amazing that they've gone on such a streak. lebron james was playing better basketball than this generation has ever seen. that being said, the last couple

of games they've played a couple of pushovers and they haven't had the strongest schedule. when they play a real team, we'll see what happens. >> bill: we got it. evan yesterday didn't -- you were not in the briefing room yesterday. >> no, no, i was. i was in the briefing room. sitting about a row behind you. >> in the front row. >> look right at you. >> i'm in the back. >> bill: i didn't mean to say you weren't doing your job. i figured you were watching it on television. >> no, no, i was there. i'm there every day. >> bill: i raised the issue of michele bachmann who has said some outrageous things lately and there hasn't been an official response from the white house. i was hoping we might get one yesterday. here's the first of the three questions that i asked deputy press secretary josh ernest. >> bill? >> bill: your reaction to two recent statements by congresswoman michele bachmann. the first about the opulence here at the white house, five

chefs on air force i o two projectionists and a high-paid dog walker. true? necessary? >> not that i know of. >> bill: not true? >> not that i know of. >> bill: not that i know of. not that i know of. don't you think they would know if they have two projectionists and five chefs in this $1 million dog walker? >> this is so interesting. bachmann has taken flak from the right and the left on this. the thing is there's no doubt that obama, as president lives a pretty opulent life, right? but all presidents do. there wasn't a lot of right wing complaining when george w. bush built that second white house down in crawford, texas and spent all of the time going down there. that cooings a fortune to -- that cost a fortune to build that. there was a report out that showed of the ex-presidents which cost something like $1.7 million a year the most expensive ex-president is george

w. bush. $85,000 in phone calls and things like that. >> bill: in the white house he was spending $1.6 billion. obama spending -- well, the cost of keeping bush there was $1.6 billion. obama is $1.4 billion. obama has trimmed down some stuff. half of that cost for both -- half of those costs are the secret service. protecting the president of the united states. >> i think bachmann add her own with this. bill o'reilly really tore into her on this thing. so i kind of wonder where -- that now infamous cnn clip of her running down the hall holding that apple. i just wonder where she is and sort of where this goes. i think it is just her -- >> bill: why wouldn't the white house jump on it? >> you asked the question well. >> bill: i was hoping to get a better answer. anyhow. but the president on more serious issues yesterday. presiding over a naturalization service in the east room of the

white house. and back on the issue of immigration reform which looks like a winner for him this year. do you agree? >> i have to say first somebody who is now entering his third week as a white house reporter, just how moving that moment was to be in the white house and watch these people. did the pledge of allegiance for the first time as an american. an amazing moment. obama used it as he has in several other -- >> bill: men and women in uniform. they're not citizens but they're serving in our military. >> it is amazing stuff. i think that there was -- actually somebody tweeted me other reporters were dusty in the room. i think it was a truly emotional moment. one of those things that is unique to america. people who are really happy to be here. smiles on them and their families. they got sworn in. got to meet the president. but yeah so obama used it to talk about immigration again and one of the things he did, he was look at these people who had served in the military. one woman he spoke about had been in the military.

now wants to be a police officer and talking about sort of this idea that we want people like that in america. we want to welcome them and right now we're not. the system is broken right now. and he sort of suggested that you know, his feeling is that there's actual progress being made here. he says you know, we've seen actual progress. more to be done. at this point, it is up to congress to have the political courage, i think was his word, political courage to actually get something accomplished. and you know, there's been a lot of signs that suggest that what he's saying is true, you know, on the flip side shortly after he made his remarks, the "dallas morning news" published an interview with texas senator ted cruz who accused obama of not being serious about immigration reform. the idea is he's trying to talk about stuff like a pathway to citizenship to scuttle a bill so democrats can use the issue in 2014 and 2016. the white house at the briefing you and i were both at, pushed back that is completely

ridiculous, no evidence to support that. but it's true that obama is using all of the little events, things you can do at the white house, second one of these things i've seen him do. all of the events he can tuesday keep talking about immigration and keep pushing it forward. even though it is kind of out of his hands at this point. he's waiting to see what congress does. >> bill: perfectly appropriate for him to use that occasion which is all about welcoming new citizens to the united states so say we need to pass comprehensive immigration reform and yes, there is a lot of work being done but we need congress to have the courage to step up ands in a bill so i can sign it. by the way, i think -- yeah, we start with michele bachmann. the best thing michele bachmann has going for her is she's not the only idiot out there. running at the mouth all the time. you've got ted cruz in the senate who accusing president obama of not wanting -- he doesn't want an immigration bill to pass. he really wants to use this as

an issue which -- ridiculous. >> ted cruz is extremely popular in the right wing and especially the tea party folks but it is not clear his view of this immigration thing is as popular. we've seen rand paul now talk about a pathway to citizenship. other guys talk about a pathway to citizenship. it is not clear the hard liner types like cruz will be -- where the g.o.p. stands. >> bill: he's been reprimanded publicly by republican senators as well as democratic senators for shooting off his big mouth on issues he doesn't know anything about. not very senatorial at any rate. guns is the other big issue. when we come back. evan mcmorris santoro with "buzzfeed." buzzfeed.com on the "full court press." >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." real, gripping, current. documentaries... on current tv.

we have a big big hour and the iq will go way up. (vo) current tv gets the converstion started weekdays at 9am eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. (vo) tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >> you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. just be grateful current tv does not come in smellivision. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv.

>> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: 26 minutes after the hour now. here the "full court press" on a tuesday. tuesday, march 26. here is a "friend of bill" for this hour. evan mcmorris santoro covers the white house for "buzzfeed." we go to briefings together. peter, what's up? >> we're on twitter at bpshow. on your question to josh ernest about michele bachmann, phil says, the president doesn't bother with michele bachmann because there's no benefit to punching her down. it actually is more beneficial to just let her self-combust. so you can find us on twitter at

bpshow with your comments. >> bill: i got some comments from friends in california about that, yesterday, too after i made that -- was on "the war room" with michael shure. they said don't expect them to answer michele bachmann. they want her to keep talking. so michael bloomberg with the mayors against illegal guns, $12 million, he's putting throughout in ads to persuade senators to vote for this gun safety legislation including, he thinks should include and will include, in fact, he says, an assault weapons ban on the floor of the senate. this increases the likelihood we'll see some serious legislation? how do you read it? >> it seems like yesterday, the day began yesterday with there being about six i think democratic senators that are conservatives were red states that were not answering questions about assault weapons bans and by the end of the day that number had shrunk quite a bit. i think the one of the guys who

got into it with bloomberg was mark pryor from arkansas who said i don't take advice from the mayor of new york city. but there is -- we've seen so many examples at this point now where that bloomberg money has come to races especially when targeting democrats. and been successful. i think that, you know, if you're a gun control advocate -- >> bill: congressional race, right? >> this is probably the best thing you can hope for. in terms of this engagement. but it is also worth noting obama will be getting back on this issue as well. yesterday, a lot of the briefing was about guns. i had a story on saturday morning. very early saturday morning on "buzzfeed," 6:00 a.m., about obama is going to go back on the road to talk about guns and that was confirmed by the white house briefing yesterday. so big push on guns. i don't think we know what happened with an assault weapons ban but i think that background checks will be the main focus. that's what they're going to push on. >> bill: i have a chance to talk to congressman john yarmuth

about that in the next segment here. you're right. most of the questions yesterday on the assault weapons ban and josh ernest saying expect the about president to get back on the road and get the american people behind this. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

>> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress. this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: here we go. 33 minutes after the hour. it is "full court press" coming to you live from our nation's capital. our studio on capitol hill. and brought to you today by the international brotherhood of teamsters. good men and women of the teamsters union.

under president jim hoffa. we all live better because of their good work. you can find out more about what they're up to in many different areas. go to the web site, www.teamster.org. evan mcmorris santoro covers the white house for buzzfeed. he's in studio with us as a "friend of bill." good to you have here. joining us on our news line this morning, even though they're in their easter passover break members of congress are hard at work in their districts. congressman john yarmuth from kentucky on our news line this morning. good to have you back. >> good morning, bill. good to be with you. >> bill: always good to have you in studio. when you're down home, good to you have by phone. >> thank you. >> bill: let me ask you first of all i lose track. we had one fiscal cliff after another. but the house and the senate got together on some kind of continuing resolution before you guys left town. are we out of the woods now on

the fiscal crisis front? >> oh, not really. for a few months, we have another confrontation with the debt ceiling coming up i think in july. and we're going to be fighting that again. we come up with these kind of -- it is like running a hurdles race. every few months, we put up another hurdle. the race is the same race and the battle is the same one. that is whether we're going to have an approach to the budget which invests in things which will keep america growing and prospering over the next couple of decades or whether we'll just try the same austerity program that failed miserably in europe. we put up these hurdles every few months that make it difficult for the public to get a grasp on what's going on. >> bill: yeah. each time, it is we're going over the fiscal cliff. then in the meantime, we have

added to it now. the sequester. where we're seeing more and more impacts of it. what have you seen in your district or what are you hearing from your colleagues about impacts of the sequester at the local level? >> well, of course, everyone has any kind of civilian military population around is beginning to feel -- there was a very poignant letter in the louisville paper just yesterday. from a woman whose husband was laid off. furloughed from the national guard losing 20% of his pay. 22 furlough days over the next few months. we have right outside my district, many of the people who live in my district, fort knocks they have -- fort knox, they have 5,000 employees who will have to take 22 furlough days again 20% of their pay gone which is going to have an impact throughout the area. not just -- obviously on the economy but on their lives.

so people are going to start feeling -- it is starting april 7th i believe is when the first furloughs will actually go into effect. one unit of air-traffic controllers that is being furloughed. we have teachers, special ed. teachers who have been dropped. so the impact will start to be felt just within a couple of weeks. people will get a much better, clearer idea of how serious the sequester is. >> bill: evan and congressman you hear furlough and you think that's not so bad. it is better than getting fired. but furlough, 20% of your pay cut when you're making maybe $35,000 a year, that's a lot of money. >> it is disastrous in some cases. we actually had relocated the human resources command of the army at fort knox, came from arlington, virginia. so all of these people basically have just brought home -- they

have mortgages. they're just trying to get established here. then all of a sudden, they get whacked like this. even doctors, i talked to a doctor yesterday who said his specialty, he's an ophthalmologist, they just cut me 12%. now the sequester cuts me 2 more percent. i had to do electronic medical records which cost several hundred thousand. people who had a comfortable lifestyle are getting hammered as well. so that has ripples throughout the economy. >> congressman, i wanted to ask you a bit about guns and the gun control fight that we're seeing in congress. yesterday, you know, we were just talking about this. mike bloomberg is going up on air with a bunch of tv ads targeting red state democrats in the senate. yesterday, senator pryor from

arkansas said i don't take advice from the mayor of new york city on what to do about guns. as a red state democrat yourself, how do you feel the white house and its allies and bloomberg and his allies are doing convincing people in states like yours to get behind this stuff and to stand up to the nra? do you feel like the messaging is right on that? >> in my state i don't think they need to. we had a statewide poll. 75% of kentuckians said they were for universal background checks. actually about 65% said they were for registration of guns -- i'm sure they would have got an different number if they said registration with the federal government. effectively, there's no difference. if you register guns somewhere. they're registered. so i think attitudes in kentucky we have an awful lot of gun owners. i think we had one of the highest actual rates of concealed carry permits in the

country. and -- but they understand what the responsibilities of gun ownership is. so they don't have any problem with it. and i'm glad harry reid finally said there will be a vote on assault weapons ban because everybody has to decide whether they're more afraid of the nra or more afraid of michael bloomberg. if i were in the senate, i would be more afraid of bloomberg. >> do you have any sense of where this is in the house at all? do you feel like there's a chance that if the senate passes something, the house will actually maintaining some action on this as well? >> i absolutely can't imagine a scenario in which the house refuses to vote on the senate-passed bill. i just can't imagine it. i may be proven very wrong but i think the pressure at that point for a vote would be enormous. >> bill: you mentioned the gun registry congressman. i wanted to come back to that.

because senator tom coburn in the senate was working with chuck schumer. it looked like they were going to be like the gang of eight on immigration reform. come up with a bipartisan plan. and then coburn pulled out because he said background checks lead to a national gun registry. if you're checking them, will you keep that information in effect, it is gun registration. does it have to be? do you think that's a bogus argument? >> well, i think it is a bogus argument because we have background checks now. and there's not a registry. >> bill: exactly. that's what i was thinking, too. coburn is a pretty smart guy. >> i'm not sure either. >> federal law explicitly prevents us from having a gun registry at this point. >> pretty strict statutes about preventing the expansion of that information. which i don't agree with. but we do.

>> bill: congressman, i want you to know that your good friend and i want you to know how loyal i am. in my bracket right -- >> yes? >> bill: unlike the president who picked indiana i have louisville going all the way. >> all right. well we're sure excited as can be here. louisville was phenomenal last weekend. they're favored to win the tournament according to the odds. they'll be favored from here on in. this is basketball country. it is quite exciting and to have indiana a few miles up the road also be in contention is pretty special. my son is an indiana graduate so he's torn. >> bill: is that right. can you imagine being in that breakdown there? >> i'm sure the congressman is glad you didn't bring up the university of kentucky. >> i'm primarily a university of louisville fan. i'm not in mourning but a lot of my friends are. >> kudos to congressman saying

who he's rooting for. some in congress have not done that. >> bill: that's right. leader pelosi is a really good friend of mine. when she said i'm for every time. come on! even the president. he filled out his brackets. he had to take a stab. congressman, you're good with your time and leadership on many issues in congress. have a good break. we'll see you back here. >> all right bill. thanks for having me on. >> bill: john yarmuth representing kentucky's third congressional district. good democrat. by the way, he's proud of the fact that he had like a zero rating from the nra when he was in congress. and he's always won re-election in kentucky. and the nra against him. when we come back, what is going on with this ruling from the italian supreme court on amanda knox? we'll check in with our legal beagle avery friedman next.

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." real immigration reform? >> ...and a distinctly satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned "great leadership" so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter). >> watch the show. >> only on current tv. while your carpets may appear clean. it's scary how much dirt your vacuum can leave behind. add resolve deep clean powder before you vacuum to expel the dirt within your carpets. resolve's deep clean powder is moist. absorbing and lifting three times more dirt

than vacuuming alone. leaving you with a carpet that's truly fresh and clean. don't just vacuum clean. resolve clean.

i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.

>> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. >> bill: it is 13 minutes before the top of the hour. this is the "full court press" on a tuesday march 26th. in studio, with us, joining team press, evan mcmorris santoro from "buzzfeed." covers the white house for "buzzfeed." and joining us on our news line now, our cnn's legal analyst and our own legal beagle, avery friedman. we wanted to talk to avery because there is a stunning

announcement this morning, breaking news this morning that italy's highest court has ordered a new trial in the case of amanda knox. you remember she's an american exchange student who was accused of helping murder her -- accused of murdering her roommate back in 2007. acquitted by one court. returned to the united states and now italy's highest court is saying we think they've got it wrong. you have to come back and we have to try you for murder again. avery, good morning. >> hi, bill. hey, evan. >> bill: what the hell is going on? >> hey this is appalling as far as i'm concerned bill. i mean for those of us who were careful in watching this trial and to see the way this case was handled against this young american was just awful. and the fact that the italian -- this high court in italy is has now returned the case for trial. >> bill: how can they do that? isn't this double jeopardy?

>> you nailed the issue. there's nothing in italian law or the italian constitution that has anything similar to what we have in the american constitution. and it seems to me that if this case is going to go forward and i mean this sincerely number one, you're never going to see amanda going back to italy. that's never going to happen. >> bill: could they grab her and take her back? >> well, i mean, we have treaties with italy. and theoretically, if this case goes all the way in and a conviction of murder goes all the way to the supreme court theoretically, there is extradition. but again, extradition is discretionary. since italy doesn't have double jeopardy provisions, bill, i think it is very unlikely. i think it would be impossible for the united states to agree to send her back to italy. >> bill: so the president would have that discretion or the attorney general? >> really, the attorney general. right. but think about this. she spent four years in the

penitentiary there in peruvia. she was tried. the evidence was appalling. the way this case was handled. they had already convicted someone else for the murder. now to think they would send this back to trial is just an abomination. >> bill: what happened to her boyfriend? was he convicted? i forget. >> yeah. >> bill: so he's serving time? >> no. no, they were both acquitted. this case has been remanded for both the two of them to be retried. >> bill: i didn't realize both. >> that kid is still in italy. i would high tail it the heck out of there. >> what's he doing still there? >> raffaele sollecito was the boyfriend. they were convicted together but the evidence was the same, bill. that's what's so extraordinary and so troubling about this ruling. and by the way we will never know the underlying reasons until june. the way it works in italy is

they come up with a ruling and then you wait 90 days for the underlying reasoning. something very foreign to the united states. so there's very thermonuclear case that went on back in 2007 and -- looks like at least in italy will start up again. she may be tried in absent ya. that's likelihood. >> bill: so they could hold the trial even though she's not there. >> we don't do things like that. >> does it change extradition if it she's convicted in absent ya of anything? >> yeah. the case would go all the way back up to the highest court in italy. at that point, there would be a question of whether or not they would petition for extradition. i just don't think the united states would honor it because there's no double jeopardy protection. she should never be retried if it were in america. >> bill: i think it would

be -- very, very difficult for any administration to say oh, yeah right you've got to go back to italy. >> the other thing is there is no way italy can compel her presence there. when you couple those two things together it is -- i think the result is appalling but i don't think you will ever see her retried, at least in person. at least i hope not. >> bill: maybe it makes us for once appreciate our own system of justice. >> thank you for saying that, bill. i know there is a lot of criticism about our justice system. but you know what? when you look at the amanda knox case and you take a look at our constitutional rights and the focus on individual rights, you really have to thank god for what we've got. >> bill: hey avery, i don't want to put you on the spot here but because you say you haven't you're like me. have you been keeping up to date on the trayvon martin case and where are we on that now?

nothing seems to be happening. everybody's forgotten about it. >> it will move forward bill. i can't conceive how the prosecution which overcharged george zimmerman will get a conviction because the media did a better job investigating his case than law enforcement. but it is a tragedy all around. young man is gone. prosecution, in my judgment has not done a very good job in putting this case together but we'll see a trial this year. george zimmerman and my prediction is you will not see a conviction. >> yikes. >> bill: we'll have another court look at it again and reverse it again. [ laughter ] >> send him to italy. >> send him to italy. >> right. amanda can't make it but we'll send george. >> bill: avery thanks so much for your time this morning and your insights into this. >> my pleasure. >> bill: avery friedman.

that's averyfriedman.com. with that, we packed in a lot in this hour, evan. thanks to you. >> thanks so much. i had a great time. >> bill: i'll see you at 12:15 at the briefing. good man. i'll be back with today's parting shot. >> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. save them. woolite everyday cleans your jeans and won't torture your tanks. woolite washed clothes look like new, longer.

(vo) current tv gets the converstion started next. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv. >> announcer: the parting shot with bill press. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: you know, poor reince priebus, chair of the republican party is trying to